Leveling-rod and out-tape



(ModeL) 4 sheets sheet 1.

H. F.- BEAN.

LEVELING 301) AND OUT TAPE. No. 269,254. Patented Dec.19, 1-882.

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(ModeL) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. H. F. BEAN.

LEVELING ROD AND OUT TAPE.

Patg l ljaedjgec. 19, 1882.

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v H. P. BEAN. LEVELING ROD AND OUT TAPE.

No. 269,254. atented De0.19,18-82.

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. the slope-stakes for either excavation or em-' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY F. BEAN, ()F JACKSON, MICHIGAN.

LEVELlNG-ROD AND OUT-TAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 269,254, dated December 19, 1882.

Application filed June 17, 1881. (ModeL) To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY F. BEAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jackson, in the county of Jackson and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Leveling- Rod and Out-Tape, for leveling and setting slopestakes in constructing railroads and canals, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in leveling-rods and out-tapes; and the objects of my improvement are to find the difference of level of any two points, or the point to set bankment in railroad or canal work without mathematical calculation.

The invention consists in the peculiar construction, combination, and operation ofparts, as more fully hereinafter described and claimed. In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical section of my improved rod, showing the back part removed. Fig. 2 is a front view. Fig. 3 is a side view. Fig. 4 is aview of the rear side of the rod. Figs. 5 and 6 are views of the endless tape. Figs. 7 and 8 are views of the out-tape. Figs. 9 and 10 are diagrams illustrating the manner of using my improvement; and Fig. 11 is a cross-section on line as m, Fig. 1, of the clamp for securing the target to the endless tape.

A represents the leveling-rod proper, provided on its front face with the usual targetnumbers, and on each side with an undercut channel to receive an endless tape, B, which passes over pulleys O D at opposite ends of the rod, and is provided on its face with a series of figures, shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The pulley O is journaled in a fixed frame, C, while the pulley D is journalcd in a sliding frame, D, which can be moved by a screw, E, to adjust the tension of the endless tape. The tape can be securely held to the rod in any desired position by the adjustable screw-clamp F, whose framepasses around the rod, and is provided with a hook, a, to receive the outtape, as shown in Fig. 2.

H represents the target, whose frame or slide 1 is provided at its front with an aperture to disclose either of the numbers on the face ofthe rod, and at its back with a clampscrew, h, to secure it to the rod in the desired position. One side of the target-frame I is provided with a rigid loop, b, to allow the passage of the endless tape B, and with a follower, 0, and set-screw d to clamp said tape firmly to the loop, so that the target can be securely clamped to the endless tape at any desired point, and the two moved together or separately at will. The target-frame I is provided with a side aperture to disclose a portion of the endless tape, as shown in Fig. 3.

J represents an out-tape with two rings, M M, either or both of which may be engaged with the hook it on the lower clamp, F. This out-tape is for taking the cross-section of railroad-earthworks. It is graduated for a roadway in the bottom of the cuts twenty feet wide and the top embankment fourteen feet wide, ratio of the side slopes one and one-half to one. For other widths of roadway and side slopes the out-tape must be graduated for those particular widths and slopes. The common side of the'out-tape represented by Fig. 8 is graduated into feet and tenths, as usual. The graduation of the other side is represented in Fig. 7. The first ten feet are left blank, (being one-half the width of the cuts at the bottom,) and the balance is divided into equal parts of one and one-half foot each, (marked 0, 1, 2, &c.,) and each of these parts is subdivided into tenths, or, rather, into ten equal parts. A ring, M, is secured to the end of the out-tape, and a second ring, M, is attached three feet from the end, which leaves a blank space of seven feetone-half of fourteen feet embankment. The horizontaldistance from the center line of the roadway to the vertical line from the top of the side slope in cuts or to the vertical line from the bottom of the side slope in fills, measured at right angles to the center line, is called the .out. Fig. 9 represeats a cross -section of railroad-earthwork which is partly in excavation and partly in embankment. In the cut the out is H J and in the fill the out is H K. The common side of the tape, Fig. 9, is used to measure the out,

and the depth of cutting for any number of feet out will be found on the other side of the tape directly opposite that number in Fig. 7.

Example: Suppose the out to be sixteen feet, Fig. 8, the depth of the cut is four feet, Fig.

7; or if the depth of cut is six feet, the out is nineteen feet, Fig. 8.

The method ofusingcross-section rod and outtape to find the depths of cuts and fills and the distance out to set the slope-stakes on railroadwork is as follows: Let Fig. 9 represent a crosssection of railroad-earthwork. Having given the width of roadway in cuts twenty feet and on embankments fourteen feet, ratio of side slopes one and one-half to one, the depth of the center cutting at G H is known; but'the' depth of the cut at A and B, depth of fill at E and F, grade-point at D, and the outs H J and H K remain to be found, and stakes marked ready for construction. Set the level at any point where the points A, B, O, D, E, and K can be seen, the rods having been previously placed in position, and level the instrument. The rod-man at the same time should clamp the target of the cross-section rod to the endless tape at 1.2, 6", below the zero, which is the depth of the center cut, 0 H. Set the rod on the center peg at the point 0, raise or lower the target until the line of sight of the instrument cuts the center of the target 0, and then clamp the target to the rod, and do not more it again until the instrument is moved. After the level has been set up, the target clamped upon the rod at 6 so that the sight is upon a level with the center of the target, and the out-tape held with the zero over the peg O and hooked to the rod, the sight upon the said rod will indicate two feet, or 2.0 excavation between B and I, the engineer reading the rod at B To find the depth of cutting A J and the distance out H J of the top of the slope at the point A, Fig.9 As the ground between A and B does not rise very fast' in this case the cutting at A J will be somewhere between two feet and three feet, and the tape-man will hold the out tape over the center peg, O, at some point of division, Fig. 8, between two feet and three feet, and the rod-man at the same time will hold the red at or near the point A, keeping the out-tape tight, the engineer reading the endless tape on the rod, and the tape-man reads the out-tape. If the two readings are the same, thepointAisfound. Ifthereadiugsare unlike, move the rod at the point A in the drawings backward or forward, (remembering always to keep the out-tape tight,) and in this case the reading on the endless tape of the rod is 2.4 feet, A, and 2.4 feet is the reading on the outtape at O, and the out H J=A G is 13.6 feet read from the common side of the out-tape, opposite 2. 1 feet on the blank side.

To find the grade-point D, where the ground changesfrom cut to fill: The rod-man moves the rod shown in the-drawings at D along the line between C and E until the line of sight A K" of the instrument cuts the zero-point of the endless tape on the rod. The rod is then moved to E (seven feet out) and the filling E G=L4 foot is read at E on the rod.

To find the depth of filling F K and the out H K of the point F: Hook the second ring of the out-tape M into the hook on the rod and proceed the same as before for finding the point A on the other side; but three feet must be deducted from the out, read from the common side of the out-tape.

Having given the depth of cutting on the center line at one end of a section, the depth of filling at the other end of the section, and the ratio of the grade, to find the depth of cutting or filling at any intermediate points, also the grade-point: Let A E, Fig. 10, represent grade and center line of a section of railroadearthwork one hundred feet in length-the filling A A=two feet, and cutting E E=three feet, and ratio of grade one foot per one hundred feet. Set the level over the point E and level the instrument. The rod-man will clamp the target of the rod to the endless tape at three feet below the zero-point, (which is the depth of cutting at the point E,) hold the rod on the peg at the point E, and raise or lower the target until its center is the same height as the center of the telescopeE. Then clamp the endless tape to the rod and unclamp the target from the tape, and without moving the tape (as it is now clamped to the rod) raise it and clamp it to the tape again at A, two feet above the zero, (which is the depth of filling atA' A.) The rodman should now hold the rod on the peg at the point A, and the line of sight of the instrument will cut the rod at the point A and will be parallel to the horizontal line A E. The engineer, by turning the levelingscrews, brings the line of sight to out the center of the target A and clamps the instrument. The line of sight A E is now parallel with the grade-line A E, (because A A=E E, each being one foot.) The instrument having been clamped, the line of sight A E remains fixed, and the depth of cutting or filling at any intermediate point can be read directly on the endless tape. Suppose the rodman holds the rod on the point B. The engineer reads the fill 2.5 feet at B on the endless tape, and the grade-point C is found when the read ing is zero, and when the rod is held on the point D the reading shows a cutting of 1.5 feet.

The depth of all cuttings and fillings, gradepoints, and points to set slope-stakes are found meehanieallyand without any mathematical calculation, and the work can be done much faster and more correctly.

Having fully described the construction of my invention and the manner of using the same, what I claim is- 1. The rod A, in combination with the endless tape B and target H, adjustably secured to said tape and rod, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, with the rod A and a 1 hook secured to said rod, of the graduated outtape J, having two rings, M M, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, with the rodAand traveling endless tape B, of the clamp F, substan tially as and for the purpose specified.

4. In a leveling-rod, the combination, with endless tape B, of the adjustable target H, the rod A and the endless tape B, of the pulhaving loop I) and clamping-screws d h, the ley O and the adjustable pulley D, substanclamp F, having hook a, and the graduated tially as and for the purpose specified. out-tape J, having rings M M, substantially 5 5. The combination, with the rod Aand the as and for the purpose specified.

endless tape B, of the target H, the loop b. se-

k cured to the target-frame I, and the clamping- HENRY BEAN screws (1 h, substantially as and for the pur- Witnesses: I i

V pose specified. ASAHEL M. BANNISTER, 1o 6. The combination, with the rod A and the JOHN CARTER. 

